1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a top mount refrigerator in which an ice machine is installed inside a chilling chamber door, and a cold air circulation passage is defined to supply cold air for the ice machine to freeze water in the ice machine quickly.
2. Description of the Related Art
A refrigerator is an electrical appliance for cooling or freezing food to preserve the food. The refrigerator carries out a refrigeration cycle using a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator to produce a cold air to store the food. The refrigerator can be classified into a top mount refrigerator in which a freezing chamber and a chilling chamber are partitioned up and down, a bottom freezer refrigerator in which a freezing chamber and a chilling chamber are partitioned down and up, and a side-by-side refrigerator in which a freezing chamber and a chilling chamber are partitioned left and right.
Among the different types of refrigerators, the top mount refrigerator will be described in detail.
The top mount refrigerator includes: a refrigerator body partitioned by a barrier to define the freezing chamber and chilling chamber; a freezing chamber door for opening and closing the freezing chamber; a chilling chamber door for opening and closing the chilling chamber; an ice maker installed in the freezing chamber for freezing water; an ice bank for collecting ice that is ejected from the ice maker; and a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator for the refrigeration cycle.
Further, the refrigerator includes cold air inflow ducts and holes at its back for supplying a cold air produced by the refrigeration cycle to the freezing and chilling chambers.
A circulation air cooled by a refrigerant at the evaporator is blown from the evaporator by a blower fan. The blown air is selectively guided to the freezing chamber and chilling chamber.
The cooled air arrived at the freezing chamber flows through the ice maker to freeze the water in the ice maker.
A refrigerator having the circulation air passage structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,604, filed on Feb. 27, 2003 by the applicant of the present invention and entitled “COOLING AIR PASSAGE APPARATUS OF REFRIGERATOR”.
However, the ice maker of the top mount refrigerator is accommodated in the freezing chamber, such that there is no sufficient room in the freezing chamber for other components and the user, thereby decreasing available interior volume of the refrigerator.
Further, the ice maker in the freezing chamber of the top mount refrigerator is not convenient for short persons, for example, children to take ice out of the ice maker (ice bank). Sometimes, the short persons have to use a chair or the like to take out the ice and this may causes an accident.